A year of COVID-19 in Dorset: My father died after shielding
Georgina Wills from Poole lost her father to Coronavirus just before Christmas
Last updated 11th Mar 2021
It's been a year since Public Health England confirmed the first two positive Coronavirus cases in Dorset.
Since then there have been 35,045 positive cases in Dorset and BCP Council and 1,444 people died with Coronavirus on their death certificate.
According to Public Health England the first two people to test positive in the county were on 8th March.
Georgina Wills, from Poole, lost her dad to Covid-19 just before Christmas on Friday December 18th.
She's been speaking to Greatest Hits Radio Dorset about the experience of losing her dad to the virus.
"It was frightening and before dad died, he was worried and scared because of his health conditions. Nobody knows how you're going to be affected by it, whether you're going to react badly or not even know that you have it."
Georgina's dad, Dean, contracted Covid-19 during the second lockdown in November 2020.
"He did adhere to the rules and during the November lockdown he wasn't going out, he wasn't seeing anyone, nobody was allowed round.
"But unfortunately, my step mum broke her ankle, so my dad went to the shop to get their essential shopping just once and that was that, he then developed symptoms and then went to hospital."
While Dean was at Bournemouth Hospital Georgina said the NHS staff went above and beyond to help her dad.
"I think the NHS are coping amazingly well, I cannot speak highly enough of the treatment that dad received, and he couldn't either, he couldn't believe that people were risking their lives to save his life while he was in hospital.
"The pressure they're under is just unimaginable and it wasn't even the peak of that second wave, and they were just so busy in the hospital, scurrying around.
"The care was just incredible you know they would give dad a shave and wash his hair while he was on the ventilator just little things, he was being looked after even though he didn't know it."
Dean became a taxi driver after settling down and having children, he was well known in the local area for wearing loud Hawaiian shirts.
"Dad meant absolutely everything to me, my family and the people around him, he was so kind, he would do anything for you, you just had to ask and he was there.
"He was just the best grandad and even now a few months on, my little boy will bring me my phone and say can we phone grandad.
"I pick up my phone even now to send him a message or a funny picture that's come through and it's really hard learning to live without him, but he's just an amazing man that meant so much to everybody."
Georgina doesn't think the November lockdown was strict enough and more could have been done to stop the public flouting the rules.
"The amount of people on social media going to non-essential shops, looking at Christmas lights, I mean they were allowed to open because they sold a few bits of food but they didn't need to be open and people didn't need to be going out.
"I know it's hard for people as they wanted to give their kids a nice Christmas but it's been really detrimental.
"I think a huge amount of deaths could've been avoided, I know it's easy to say that but also, the public could've done a lot more, they were seeing friends when they didn't need to be. Again I know it's hard, but I think had more been done by ourselves."